the process
The Tactical Succession Process
Tactical Succession is delivered as a three-year, one-on-one engagement:
This three-year process exists to ensure that power moves — deliberately, safely, and permanently.
Each year represents a state change, not a phase of work and requires successful completion to move into the subsequent phase of the process.
YEAR
1
READINESS & STABILIZATION
Making succession real and survivable
Year 1 is about YOU.
Year 1 explores your identity, empowers your purpose beyond your work, and enables you to have happiness after company ownership. Year 1 also involves the strategic review of legal, accounting, taxation, and corporate structure in collaboration with your advisory team.
Core Objectives
- Make succession a top-three strategic priority, not a background intention
- Expose and document founder dependency (decision, revenue, relationships)
- Establish TS as the succession quarterback with authority to sequence advisors
- Create protected, daytime succession cadence (no evenings, no weekends)
- Pressure-test successor capability with observable behaviour (not promises)
- Map legal, tax, and governance sequencing without locking anything in
- Align advisors around a single narrative and timeline
- Force early truth about direction (internal successor vs external path)
By the end of Year 1
- Succession is no longer optional or deferred
- Fears and sabotaging behaviors are understood
- Individual purpose and identity beyond your business has been explored at full depth
- The founder has accepted that some version of exit is inevitable
- A credible direction exists (even if details are unresolved)
- The business is stable enough to tolerate authority transfer
- Corporate shares, taxation and accounting considerations and an estimated valuation report (if required) have been completed and have the shares in a “transfer-ready” state
YEAR
2
CONTROL & GOVERNANCE TRANSITION
Redesigning authority before ownership transfer
Year 2 is about YOUR COMPANY.
Year 2 audits, maps, and redesigns the relationships, tasks, decisions, and revenue generating bottlenecks that exist with your ownership. Redesigning and testing this is essential to create a company that can has value and can achieve succession.
Core Objectives
- Transfer decision authority before equity or control
- Redesign governance so power no longer defaults to the founder
- Create clear decision rights, escalation paths, and consequences
- Force successors to lead under real conditions — and fail safely
- Introduce reversible legal and compensation structures aligned with readiness
- Reduce founder involvement from daily to strategic
- Escalate conflict deliberately when avoidance appears
- Prevent backsliding masked as “oversight” or “prudence”
By the end of Year 2
- The business no longer requires the founder for daily decisions
- There is room for Successors to have real authority and accountability
- Governance functions independently of personality
- Founders can step away without panic or intervention
- Legal and incentive structures support multiple futures
- Control is no longer theoretical — it has moved
- The organization accepts successor leadership as legitimate
YEAR
3
OWNERSHIP TRANSFER & CONTINUITY
Making the transition binding and irreversible
Year 3 is about EXECUTION.
Year 3 writes and implements the transition of ownership. When a successor has been identified, this is prepared and completed in real time under the facilitation of your CSO. When a successor remains to be identified, the transition plan is put in place while the business is listed with the broker of your choosing. Having completed year 1 and 2 of the TS process puts your business readiness, marketplace desirability and value at a maximum.
Core Objectives
- Convert working governance into binding legal reality
- Execute ownership transfer mechanics
- Remove founder escape hatches
- Prove financial independence of the exiting owner
- Establish post-transition roles — or complete separation
- Ensure continuity without shadow leadership
- Escalate conflict deliberately when avoidance appears
- Lock in what now works
- Complete the identity transition from operator to non-operator
By the end of Year 3
- Ownership transition is legally enforceable
- The business operates without founder involvement
- Authority is unquestioned and stable
- The successor owns outcomes — fully
- The founder’s identity no longer depends on control
- Succession has occurred or the business is formally listed for sale
- There are no loose ends
What if I don’t have a successor?
For some clients, a successor is already known or being considered. For others, a successor has not been named. And for some, an open market listing of their business with a qualified broker is in their future. Tactical Succession works with all of these scenarios. A buyer or successor does not need to be in hand for the process to begin and to be effective. The third year of your process can include broker engagement in tandem with your process. This facilitation is supported by your Chief Succession Officer at Tactical Succession. Note that TS does not benefit from business sale transactions or accept any remuneration for referrals to any professionals including brokerages and agents. We do not benefit from exits.
What are the details of admission?
You can learn more about admission and requirements on our admission page. Once reviewed, if you are curious and remain interested in engaging with the process please book an alignment call with one of our Chief Succession Officers.
Does the program require completion in three consecutive years or am I able to take a year off in between?
The program is designed to be executed in three consecutive years. In certain instances, a year hiatus can be considered and is done so on a case-by-case basis. Process fees are most competitive in a consecutive three-year process to encourage and reward execution and follow through.
book a call
If you’re exploring succession, book an alignment call now. In this 90-minute call we’ll learn about your goals, your vision, and determine whether the TS process is a fit for you.